Questions remain about chemicals stored at burned fertilizer plant

Winston-Salem Fire Chief Trey Mayo provided a timeline on Wednesday on how firefighters attacked a massive blaze at the Winston Weaver fertilizer plant, but questions still remain about what chemicals were in the building.

A Tier II report is a federally required document that lets first responders know if potentially dangerous materials are stored at a location.

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Emergency Management Director August Vernon says there are nearly 300 places in the city that file the documents. He says the annual report for the Weaver plant hadn't been submitted since 2019.

He says the report is just a snapshot, but it's good for emergency workers to have.

“It gives us a general idea of how much material there is, where it's at, what materials are in the facility,” he says. “And it also has information on a general map of the site."

Failure to file Tier II reports can lead to fines and other penalties. Vernon says compliance is done by agencies higher up than the county and he didn't know if Weaver had been cited.

Mayo learned about the ammonium nitrate shortly after the fire began when he asked a plant employee who said there was as much as 600 tons of it on site. 

Mayo says the only other chemical known to be stored at the plant when the fire broke out was potassium nitrate, also used in making fertilizer.